Jay Evensen: On second thought...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry answers a question as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich listens in the background during a Republican presidential candidate debate at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, N.H., Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Rick Perry announced last week he was dropping out of the presidential race. In a stirring farewell speech, he said he was endorsing Newt Gingrich, he believes in redemption and ... well, there was a third thing but he just couldn't remember it. Oops.

Perry hopes voters will forgive Gingrich's marital infidelities and other personal troubles. These are the same voters who wouldn't forgive him for a simple lapse of memory during a debate.

Perry urged his supporters to change their allegiance to Gingrich. Both of them said they would think about it.

Gingrich, meanwhile, drew cheers from a South Carolina debate audience last week by blaming the media for making an issue of his alleged "open marriage" proposal to ex-wife Marianne. Apparently, that "family values" plank in the party platform needs some updating.

Exactly how would an "open marriage" vow sound, anyway? "I promise to love and cherish as long as it fits into my appointment calendar..."?

Wikipedia and other popular websites went off-line last Wednesday to protest a bill they say would cripple the Internet. That sound you heard Wednesday night was millions of homework-laden schoolchildren screaming in agony.

If encyclopedia salesmen were savvy, they would have hit the neighborhoods hard on Wednesday, selling their books as hard-copy backups in case the Internet goes down.

Where did all those encyclopedia salesmen go, anyway?

Today marks the start of the Utah Legislature's annual 45-day session. Time to put all those duck-and-cover drills from your youth to good use.

Jay Evensen is the associate editor of the Deseret News editorial page. Follow him on Twitter @jayevensen.